You’re wrong on almost every point. Soccer could use adjustments but not any of those ones you propose.
{{ Adjustment #1: Dramatically shrink the size of the field. Make the field about half the size it is now. This will help increase the action in front of the goal. }}
2 bad things will happen if this was done.
—1. the game would become “Goalie Wars”. Goalies lobbing the ball back and forth hoping the opposing goalie makes a mistake and the ball goes in. The length of the field is very specific to avoid goalies being able to score on each other from their “drop kick”.
—2. You don’t want more action in front of the goal. The more people and it becomes a scrum where the goals are accidental. No skill, just a bunch of wild kicking. The most exciting shots in Soccer are the long shots.
{{ Adjustment #2: Increase the size of the goal. }}
The width of a regulation goal is 18ft. A man standing in the middle can jump to either side and have a slim but possible chance of reaching either post. This encourages the wild and exciting jumping saves. Making it wider would change goal tending for the worse. More defenses packed in the goal to make up.
However increasing the goal height by 6” might be possible. It would encourage more jumping by the goalie which is exciting. It would also encourage more long shots, also exciting.
{{ Adjustment #3: Put sideboards up around the field so the ball doesn’t go out of bounds so much. }}
No, No, No!.... Walls discourage teamwork and discourage running. Walls also allow the ball to be “trapped” leading to a lot of time where the defender and offensive player pretty much just stand there in a stand-off. MMA also suffers from this with their cages.
{{ Adjustment #4: Allow hitting in soccer, like in ice hockey and lacrosse. }}
Sports that allow hitting require pads. Pads hurt running and skill moves. Soccer doesn’t have pads and because there are no pads there aren’t problems with concussions that can end careers and lives.
... You need to learn what “Stoppage Time” is.
... You need to learn what “Set Plays” are.
... You need to learn why games ending in ties can be just as exciting as games ending in a win/loss.... [hint: world cup scoring is done as a tournament - you get points even for the ties, not win/lose like the playoffs or NCAA]
Actually, the soccer goal is 8’ high by 24’ (8 yds) wide – a ratio of 1:3 … An increase in height by a foot to an even 3 yards would probably marginally increase goal production. It would be a interesting exercise to find out too why the other standard dimensions are set as they are, e.g. why it’s a 6-yard box in front of the goal, and an 18-yard deep Penalty area instead of 20 yards with the PK spot right in the center.
Curious though that with all this talk of forced “metrification”, the standard dimensions are all expressed in exact old-fashioned English units ;)